Minimal

After a great week of work in the Cyclades (is there a better place to work?) we were on our way back to Stockholm via Copenhagen with SAS.

We reached Athens Airport after a pleasant subway trip that costs 9€ (a bit expensive comparing with the Pendeltåg in Stockholm, which costs 8€). Since we arrived only 45 min before the scheduled take off, the counter for SAS was empty and we managed to drop off our luggage in two minutes and go directly to the international zone of the airport. It was a bit unexpected to see the Duty Free shops before passing through security, so at the end we just went through it and expecting more shops, didn’t finally buy any olive oil or wine to take back with us.

There was no place to seat near the boarding gate when we got there but the gate opened quite quickly and in no time, despite the crowd, we were inside the plane, a 14 years old Airbus 321 named Arne Viking, with quite overused seats. The cabine was divided in two, SAS Plus with larger seats and food served and SAS Go, with normal seats (reclining and with more than enough leg room) and paid food menu (the choice isn’t great, so I didn’t get anything). The temperature was good and the service was agreeable, with the hostess passing several times with coffee or tea. There were screen on top, every 3 or 4 rows, passing mostly information about the route and also some cartoons. The magazine was the same as on the way to Athens, so I had to get into my book to pass time. Again the pilot was great, as with all SAS flights He took and on top of getting away from turbulence, he explained the route quite a few times. The plane took off on time and reached Copenhagen also on time. That’s the SAS way, Scandinavian minimal but Scandinavian schedule, I guess.

We got off the plane at the same gate as our next flight to Stockholm (which was going to be on the same plane but different crew). So we used the hour between the two flights to eat at one of the many restaurants of Kastrup, which feels more like a mall than an airport.

I really liked SAS and still have been flying with them lately, but with their services getting more and more minimal and with the other Star Alliance members (Swiss, Lufthansa or Aegean) giving a better value for money for most of European routes from Stockholm it feels harder to consider them for my next trips unless it’s nicely timed.